The Flower
by jenl821
Summary: It was such a simple gesture...


**A/N: This is part one of a two-part ficlet I'm working on. This part will be from Julianne's point of view, and the second part will be from Lloyd's! Enjoy! **

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><p><strong>The Flower-Part 1<strong>

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><p>Julianne sat at her computer, trying to look busy, but the truth was she was trying to listen to what Shea and Charlie were talking about in the corner.<p>

Just a few short minutes ago, Charlie arrived with Lloyd and Shea in tow. Ray had gone to pick up Erica to make things a little quicker. Julianne tried to crush the sweep of jealousy that washed over her as she thought about Erica and Ray, alone, in a car, free to talk about anything. And she knew that Erica wasn't a shy girl. She'd make her feelings known for Ray whenever she could, and Julianne didn't know if Ray would turn her down her not.

She pushed those thoughts from her head because they only made her feel even more anxious. Right now she wanted to know what was so wrong with Lloyd.

When they walked in, Lloyd turned and went right into the interrogation room, closing the door behind him. He didn't say a word, and that was very unusual for him.

Charlie called Shea over and asked what the deal was, and Shea was explaining something to him in hushed tones. Julianne caught a few words like "fight" and "flowers", but she didn't catch anything that made sense.

She turned and looked into the room to see Lloyd sitting with his back toward her. He hadn't moved, and seemed to be in deep thought. She considered what to do? Should she go and talk to him?

He had helped her through so many of her issues, and he encouraged her, so wasn't it right that she do the same for him? Shouldn't she try and help him, even though she didn't think she could help much? She could listen, that was something, right?

She got up and went to the kitchen and poured some coffee. She walked to the interrogation room and knocked on the door. Lloyd didn't say anything, but she entered anyway.

When she walked in, she must have startled him, because he flinched and turned his body from her.

Julianne cringed at the sight. He was avoiding her. Had she done something? Said something? She didn't think she had. She just didn't understand why he was acting like this to her. It was getting to her. Lloyd was always so nice and kind around her, even when he was his awkward self, she thought he was rather adorable. Out of all the cons, he was the one she related to the most.

She got the urge to turn and leave from the gesture, but she decided to stick it out. She didn't know why he was acting like this.

"Lloyd," Julianne said, walking in. "I brought you some coffee."

She sat the cup down on the edge of the table, but fear suddenly made her stop in her tracks. Not out of fear of him, but fear of rejection. Fear that he might not want to be friends with her anymore.

Lloyd didn't say anything. He just kept his body shifted the other way, and his hair covering his face.

"Lloyd?" Julianne questioned. Getting a bit more bold, she moved closer to him. "Are you ok?"

"Thanks," Lloyd began, clearing his throat. "Thanks for the, um, coffee." He still didn't look at her.

"You're welcome," Julianne said. She turned to leave, but she stopped herself. She couldn't leave him like this. She couldn't allow him to sit here alone, with no one to talk to. Something was obviously bothering him and she owed it to him to try and help him out.

She turned around, and took the seat beside him. He didn't look up, but from his body language he was surprised by her actions.

"You know what you said to me when you first met me?" Julianne said. "You diagnosed all of my problems to a t, opened up to me about what was wrong with you, and gave a solution to fix it."

She moved a little closer, and he sat back a little, but still didn't look at her. "You told me to stop waiting for a wrecking ball to knock this thing down when a crack in the dike would do. So, Lloyd, take your advice. Don't wait for your problem to just blow over, when you can talk about it and crack it away a little at a time."

He still didn't look at her, but she could see the smirk that formed on his face.

"Lloyd, please talk to me," Julianne almost begged. She didn't think she liked it when Lloyd talked too much, but she realized she liked it so much more than when he was quiet. The silence was eerie, and she missed his witty remarks and smart-ass comments. "At least look at me."

Lloyd still didn't move and Julianne's irritation grew. She didn't know what possessed her, but she lifted her hand to move some of his hair from his face, trying to get a look at his baby blue's, but when she did, she saw the huge bruise that surrounded Lloyd's right eye.

Lloyd jerked back, ashamed that she had seen the mark that blemished his face.

"Lloyd! What happened?" Julianne questioned, worry etched in her face.

"Nothing, just prison stuff," Lloyd explained and Julianne shook her head. She jumped up, and walked out of the room, going immediately for the first aid kit. She came back and opened it on the table.

Lloyd looked at it, then at her. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like. I need to treat that wound of yours. It's completely black and blue, and you still have some blood caked around your cheek. Can you even see out of that eye?"

Lloyd shook his head, and Julianne huffed. "Sit back," she said, and Lloyd obeyed. He leaned back and she brushed his hair from his face. She grabbed some cream and dabbed it on a cotton swab before running it over Lloyd's cheek. He cringed a bit, but held still.

"I wish you would tell me how you got this," Julianne said as she cleaned the wound. Taking a towel, she dipped it in some water, and smoothed it over his eye and cheek, cleaning off the dried blood and puss that had accumulated.

"It's nothing to worry about. It happens," Lloyd told her.

She dried his face, applied more cream, and placed a bandage over his cut cheek. His eye was still black and puffy, but there wasn't really anything she could do for that besides help reduce it. She took out a gel pack and crushed it, causing it to go cold in her hand instantly. She placed it over Lloyd's eye and he hissed. "Whoa! That's cold!" Lloyd said, trying to remove the pack, but she held tight.

"Stop, Lloyd. You need it on if you want the swelling to go down. You want to see from that eye again, don't you?" Julianne said, giving him a sly smile. He half-laughed, half-huffed at her. "Were you running your mouth again?"

"Something like that," Lloyd admitted.

"You need to watch out with what you say. Some people just can't handle your winning personality," Julianne said. Lloyd looked at her and smirked.

"Why are you helping me?" Lloyd questioned, suddenly.

"Because, you always help me. I wanted to return the favor," Julianne said.

Lloyd slowly removed the pack, and looked at Julianne. She looked into his eyes and suddenly she felt so sorry for him. No real friends or family, no real self-confidence, it seemed like all he did was rely on his intelligence, which was a good thing, but that wasn't all he needed. He needed to work on his people skills.

Lloyd's face suddenly went from a smile to a frown and anger filled his eyes. He took the pack from Julianne's hand and stood up. "I don't need to be pitied by you!" he said. He didn't actually raise his voice, but his tone was rather harsh, and Julianne stepped back. Confusion filled her face. She didn't know what had changed his mood so fast.

"Lloyd?"

"I can do this, leave me alone," Lloyd said as he stormed past her, slamming into the table as he did. The coffee she had brought him spilled onto the floor. Julianne turned to watch him retreat. She sat back, stunned, at the sudden actions. What had she done? She was helping him!

Julianne watched as Lloyd went into the bathroom, shutting the door.

She took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind and assess the situation. Everything was fine, or so it seemed, until Lloyd's mood changed so fast.

She walked out of the interrogation room to see Shea sitting in the corner, reading a magazine. Charlie was in his office on the phone. Neither seemed to have noticed what just happened.

She moved to her desk and sat down. She looked over at Shea, thinking about how much she wanted to ask him about Lloyd. What happened to Lloyd at the prison? Why was he in such a bad mood?

She couldn't lie, Shea intimidated her, more than anyone else, but her curiosity was getting the best of her. Mustering all the courage she had, she got up and walked over to where Shea was sitting.

"Um, Shea," Julianne began, and he turned to look up at her. "How did Lloyd get the black eye?"

Shea smirked and put his magazine down. He didn't say anything at first, and Julianne thought he might not actually tell her.

"Stupid, was trying to win some money he needed to buy something. He was playing a poker game with these three guys, and he won," Shea told her, and Julianne nodded her head, listening.

"Well, when it was over, he was braggin' about what he was going to do with the money, and the guys started making fun of him, calling him names and stuff," Shea continued. "When one of them stepped over the line, he tried to fight him, and Lloyd, well, shouldn't ever be fightin'"

"Ok, what did he want to buy?" Julianne questioned. Shea sat up in his chair, moving a little closer.

"Flowers," Shea said and Julianne's eyes widened. Suddenly, she felt a small pang in her heart. It was sudden, and she might have missed it, but it was there. The information stuck her for some reason. And it wasn't a good feeling. She almost dreaded her next question.

"Flowers? For who?" Julianne asked and Shea raised an eyebrow.

"I can't believe you've gotta ask me that question," Shea said, shaking his head. He leaned back into the chair, lifting on leg over his knee. "It was for you."

Julianne felt her breath leave her for a moment. What? Did she just hear correctly? "Me?" Julianne said, voicing her thoughts.

"You can't tell me you haven't seen the way he looks at you? Always trying to be near you?" Shea asked, and Julianne shook her head no.

Julianne's head turned and looked back at the closed bathroom door. She was shocked, she had to say. She missed it all. She had no idea that Lloyd had any feelings for her at all besides those of friendship.

"Yep, he was trying to win some money to buy you flowers, but the jerks took all his money and gave him a black eye," Shea told her.

"Thanks for telling me, Shea," Julianne said, before getting up and walking back over to her desk. She wanted to go and talk to Lloyd, but she couldn't. Not right now. She needed to get her thoughts together. Realizing that she needed to clean up the interrogation room, and hoping that would clear her mind, she gathered some paper towels and headed that way.

She was cleaning the coffee when she heard Charlie yell for Lloyd and Shea. "Come on you two, we gotta go meet up with Erica and Ray. They went on to the crime scene so we don't have to waste any more time," Charlie said. She heard footsteps, and turned to see Charlie standing in the door.

"Julianne, I need you to get all the files on this guy. Look up all his family history and put an alert out on anyone he keeps in contact with," Charlie told her, before heading to the elevator.

She looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lloyd to at least flash a smile, but they were already gone. She was left alone, like usual, to her thoughts and her work. She cleaned up the mess and decided it was best to start working on what Charlie needed her to do. Walking over to her desk, she sat down at her computer. She was about to start typing when something caught her eye. Looking over, sitting by her computer, was a rose. It wasn't a real rose, it was made out of paper, but she picked it up just as delicately.

Holding it in her hands, she smiled. She knew this had to of come from Lloyd. He couldn't come up with the money, so he made her one instead, and that made her heart beat a little faster. She thought back to all the stolen glances and awkward moments, and realized that maybe she did have a crush on the doctor, she just didn't know it. But whether or not she did before, she definitely did now. He was always so sweet with her and this little gesture was all she needed. She held it close to her face, and smelled it. Even though it didn't smell like a rose, she could have sworn it smelled like Lloyd. She sat it on her desk gently, making sure not to wrinkle any part of it.

Next time she saw him, she was going to talk to him. She was going to thank him for the flower and tell him how much better it was than a real one, because this one would never die.


End file.
